The Tragedy of the Doctor & Other Stories
by montypython203
Summary: A comparison of quotes from Shakespearian texts with events from Doctor Who. It sounds worse than it is, really.
1. The Time War

_Title: The Tragedy of the Doctor_

_Rating: T (for dark themes)_

_Summary: The Doctor's thoughts about the Time War, in comparison to quotes from Macbeth._

_Disclaimer: I am not Shakespeare (he's dead) or Russell T Davies._

_Author's Note: I'm studying Macbeth for English, and this idea just came to me._

**The Tragedy of the Doctor**

_"He is full so valiant."_

To many, he was the saviour. He'd saved the lives of people from all over time and space. He was a friend to everyone.

"_Art though afeared to be the same in thy own act and valour as thou art in desire?"_

This was it. This was his chance to get rid of the Daleks forever. He'd wanted this for so long, ever since his first encounter with them all those years ago. He hated them, despised them. Now with the push of a button, they'd be gone. That button controlled their fate. But he was afraid. If he pushed it, he'd be sacrificing his planet and his people too. Was he a coward or a killer?

"_Are you a man?"_

It was taunting him, mocking him. This was a test to see if he could stay strong.

"_I am in blood stepped so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as to go o'er."_

He'd been through too much with this war. He'd killed so many, and it would be just as hard to turn back.

_"I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not."_

It scared him to think of himself as nothing more than a murderer. He hated himself for what he'd done. He'd become someone he didn't know … or like.

_"What's done is done."_

Nothing could bring his people back, so what was the point of moping about it? He had to get on with life.

"_Consider it not so deeply."_

It wasn't a big deal, right?

"_A little water clears us of this deed."_

By bringing on a regeneration, he could start again. A new life with new memories. A new accent, a new face, a new outfit. It was going to be fantastic.

"_Yet here's a spot. Out, damned spot! … What will these hands ne'er be clean?"_

But he couldn't get it off his mind. His conscience would not allow him to casually dismiss it. The blood of his entire race was on his hands, and he'd never be able to forgive himself. He was more aware of death than ever before, and he could smell the blood in the air wherever he went. He couldn't escape what he had done. He was the Doctor, and he was a killer. Nothing would change that.

_"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."_

**Fin**

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_Something different to my usual fics, which is a nice change. Please please please review._


	2. Last of the Time Lords

_I have decided to continue this. Unlike the first chapter, which contained a whole lot of quotes from **Macbeth**, I have found one particular monologue in **Antony and Cleopatra** that was just PERFECT! I have used it here to describe the Doctor's feelings during **Last of the Time Lords**._

* * *

_I have follow'd thee to this: - but we do lance  
__Diseases in our bodies_

The Doctor couldn't believe what was happening as he held the dying Master in his arms. He'd known him for so many years, been through so much with him, and now it was ending.

_I must perforce  
__Have shown to thee such a declining day,  
__Or look on thine_

Taking into account everything that had happened over the past year, it seemed obvious that either one of them would die, or the other. And yet, the Doctor had always hoped and prayed against it – he never wanted death if he could avoid it, but especially not that of the one person in the universe who understood him.

_We could not stall together  
__In the whole world_

Even with the rest of the Time Lords gone, the world was still not big enough for the two of them. They couldn't balance each other out – one had to go. That one was the Master.

_But yet let me lament,  
__With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts, _

His tears said it all. He never cried – the last time he had cried he had been John Smith, a mere human. But the pain he felt at this moment made him feel so alone, so vulnerable, that he had no choice but to cry.

_That thou, my brother, my competitor  
__In top of all design, my mate in empire,  
__Friend and companion in the front of war,_

Though the Master was his enemy by far, the man who had basically destroyed Earth and so many other planets in his time, the Doctor could not deny that he would miss the man he used to call his friend. They had come from the same planet. They had looked into the Untempered Schism together. They had studied together, grown up together, and fought together.

_The arm of mine own body, and the heart  
__Where mine his thoughts did kindle_

The Doctor had always respected the Master. His intellect and his cunning were enviable qualities, and there were occasions where the Doctor had been inspired by his rival's actions. If only he had used them for good, things would have turned out differently.

_That our stars,  
__Unreconciliable, should divide  
__Our equalness to this._

But they could never go back to the way it was in the old days. Each was a Time Lord, and each was a very different person. The only way their equality could be changed was through death. And it was through the death of the Master that the Doctor felt truly alone.

* * *

_I have my Trial HSC starting in 2 days. Therefore, I probably won't be posting for a while._


End file.
